KineticD Online Data Backup Expert Tips: Three Fundamental Elements to Consider When Choosing a Cloud Solution For Your Business

With demand on the rise for cloud computing services, it is no wonder that more and more cloud vendors are popping up on the market every day. And, while this increasing number of cloud service providers is indeed resulting in more variety to choose from for businesses looking to harness the power of the cloud, it has also become increasingly difficult for these same businesses to cut through the hype and double-talk in order to ascertain which cloud computing IT solution is the best fit for them. So, the question is, how does an enterprise go about finding the right cloud vendor for their particular type of business?

Well, when first beginning to peruse the vast selection of cloud services available today, it is important to consider three basic fundamental elements of cloud IT services.

1. Public, private or hybrid cloud solutions?
To start off, the type of cloud services that a business should be looking for will, of course, depend a great deal on what type of business they are in the first place. For example, enterprises that need to store and frequently access mass amounts of highly confidential data, such as banks or government agencies, would probably be best to opt for the most secure type of cloud storage that is available today, which is appropriately called “private cloud” storage. The utilization of private clouds ensures that a client’s data is housed in its own exclusive hardware and is in no way intermingled with that of any other customers of the cloud vendor. In addition to this, private clouds are often only administered by the client, with the online data backup company only providing, not overseeing, the hardware in question.

On the other hand, the more common and affordable option is to utilize a “public cloud”, in which the data of many different clients is stored on the same server and overseen by the cloud vendor. Indeed, the utilization of public clouds allows cloud vendors to offer online data storage solutions at vastly cheaper prices, and this is primarily due to the fact that with public clouds they are able to leverage their resources most efficiently by fully utilizing almost every bit of data storage space that they have at their disposal. Also, it is important to keep in mind that most of the time there is very little that could actually be considered “public” about public clouds, with quality cloud vendors applying encryption to all of the client data that they store, and maintaining many virtual boundaries between the files of their different clients that are sharing their public cloud servers.

Since private cloud storage is considered more ideal but is also often more expensive than public cloud storage, some businesses may end up seeking out a third option, which would be the utilization of a hybrid cloud storage solution. Hybrid clouds are ones in which certain highly-classified data can be stored in private storage, while the rest can kept in public cloud storage, allowing businesses to apply a special level of security on some of their more important data, but still save costs on the storage of the rest of their information at the same time. In addition to this, other types of hybrid cloud storage solutions exist which combine both online and on-site data storage, which is often the most appealing option to businesses that want to be assured of the fastest possible data recovery speeds in the case of a data loss disaster.

2. Security
Beyond a doubt, the levels of security employed by a prospective cloud vendor is a crucial element to consider when setting out to choose a cloud storage vendor for your enterprise. Top-notch cloud vendors ensure that their clients’ data is secure and protected from theft and all other forms of data compromisation at all times by employing the highest levels of data encryption available, both while their customers’ data is in transmission and when in storage. In addition to this, when considering signing up for the services of any cloud vendor, businesses must be sure to find out exactly who will be granted the power to unlock the encryption that is placed on their files, with the highest caliber of online data backup and cloud storage service providers often issuing their end users client-exclusive encryption keys that make is so that only the client, and not even the cloud vendor themselves, can unlock and access their files.

Of the many other security concerns to keep in mind, whether or not the remote servers of any cloud storage provider under consideration are physically secured against break-ins and natural disasters is of course a very important one indeed. This information, along with the cloud vendor’s track record should be transparent and easily accessible to the public for the scrutiny of any potential clients, and if not, the seeker of cloud services might think best to look into considering another cloud vendor’s services instead.

3. Pricing
Of all the advantages of modern day cloud computing for business, one of the most fundamental is the highly scalable pricing solutions that many cloud vendors are now able to offer their clients. While in the past only the largest of enterprises could afford to invest in having extensive IT infrastructure in the cloud, nowadays businesses of all sizes are becoming much more able to easily afford advanced cloud services. This is due to the fact that a “utility computing” model is now often employed in the cloud, in which businesses only need to pay for a given level of cloud services if they actually use it, as opposed to being forced to invest in IT infrastructure first in order to be prepared for when their developing business begins to grow. Plus, these sorts of price models allow newer users of the cloud to slowly expand their use of cloud services, a process that often serves as the best way for developing businesses to thoroughly learn the most they can about all the myriad advantages that cloud IT technology can bring about for their business.

Of course, we here at KineticD understand that there are many cloud vendors out there to choose from, and that is why we always offer our free 14-day trial which allows you to find out what our services are all about before you actually decide to sign up with us. In addition to this, we have a large technical support staff that is always at the ready to answer any questions that you might have about the state of the art cloud computing services that we provide for our customers. So, with over 40,000 business users worldwide and over 1000 partners, why not stop by our website today to find out if KineticD is the right cloud computing solution for your business?

About the author: Ben Puzzuoli is Technical Sales Director at KineticD, a Toronto based online data backup service provider.